PRESS DIGEST- British Business - Feb 12

Feb 12 The following are the top stories on the
business pages of British newspapers. Reuters has not verified
these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

The Telegraph

BARCLAYS CULL TO CLEAR OUT SENIOR BANKERS
Hundreds of senior Barclays investment bankers and
managers face being made redundant this year, along with
thousands of ordinary staff, as the lender looks to cut as many
as 12,000 jobs. ()

VODAFONE'S 5.8 BLN STG ONO BID EXPECTED TO BE REJECTED

Vodafone's 5.8 billion pound ($9.56 billion)bid for
Ono will be rejected, it was expected this evening,
following a meeting of the Spanish cable operator's board. ()

HIKMA COMBINES CHAIRMAN AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE ROLE

Hikma Pharmaceuticals' chief executive is to take on
the additional role of chairman later this year. The FTSE-250
company said its chief executive Said Darwazah will assume the
dual role in May, when his 83-year-old father, Samih Darwazah,
steps down as chairman of the board. ()

The Guardian

BANK OF ENGLAND LAUNCHES INQUIRY INTO FOREX MANIPULATION
CLAIMS

The Bank of England has launched an internal inquiry into
allegations that its officials endorsed sharing of information
between traders in the foreign exchange market, the central
bank's deputy governor told Members of Parliament. ()

WAITROSE, ALDI AND LIDL EAT FURTHER INTO MAJOR SUPERMARKETS'
MARKET SHARE

The UK's grocery market saw growth slide to its slowest pace
since 2005 as Morrisons, Asda and Tesco
continue to take a battering from discounters and the upmarket
grocer Waitrose. ()

NEW LOOK IPO PLANS ON ICE

Privately-owned retailer New Look is standing back from the
rush to the stock market with no plans to seek a public listing
until next autumn at the earliest. ()

Holiday operator Thomas Cook said a 45 million pound
asset sale on Tuesday helped it reach a target for disposals
ahead of schedule as it reported a narrowing seasonal loss,
giving it further confidence in its turnaround plan. ()

The Times

GOVERNMENT PLANNED FOR CO-OP TO BUY LLOYDS BRANCHES

The Government made it clear that it wanted Lloyds
to sell hundreds of branches to the Co-operative Bank
for political reasons in a deal that helped to push the mutual
into ruin, a senior Bank of England official said today. ()

'WALKIE SCORCHIE' DEVELOPER LAND SECURITIES TO TURN DOWN THE
HEAT

Months after the 37-storey tower, officially known as 20
Fenchurch Street, fried an egg and melted a Jaguar car and City
workers' shoes with the intensity of the glare from its
south-facing glass façade, its developers, Land Securities
, believe they have devised a solution. ()

The deputy governor of the Bank of England has been forced
to deny that it condones market manipulation after it was
dragged into an investigation over foreign exchange rate-fixing
claims which he agreed could be "enormously damaging" to it. ()